The 12th Robotics Festival, organized by Robotique FIRST Québec, brings together 47 teams in the same amphitheater, including some from China, the United States, France, Taipei and Turkey.
Throughout the school year, these teams, which averaged 12 to 15 young people, spent time designing their robot to take on this year’s Fully Charged challenge. Even though beacons were set up, teams were left to imagine their robot from A to Z in hopes of scoring as many points as possible during the games.
When their goal isn’t to attack directly like the American battlebots do, the robots are still placed in two teams of three within the same arena, where the robot teammates have to help each other, specifically collecting cubes and pins and putting them in theirs throw station.
At the end of the game, the robots must try to find their balance on a platform, which requires a communication effort between the pilots and leads to exciting encounters. The alliance that collects the most points wins.
Ultimately, the three teams in the winning alliance, along with two other teams receiving awards from the judges, earn their way to the FIRST Championship, which will bring together the best teams in the world in Houston, Texas at the end of April.
For Robotique FIRST Québec, after several years under the yoke of hygiene measures, the 2023 festival marks a return to the full formula in front of audiences. However, organizers say they rely on a solid network of volunteers to enable them to successfully run their event at the Colisée Vidéotron in Trois-Rivières.